Rotatable brush heads have long been available. See Saxe, U.S. Pat. No. 1,442,363, which describes a toothbrush having a brush head that may be rotatably adjusted between various selected brush head angles. Such forms of angular adjustment allow the head of the toothbrush to be oriented to more comfortably and effectively clean particular areas of the user's teeth.
Brush heads such as Saxe exhibit problems because of the manner in which the brush head is rotatably interconnected to the handle of the brush. These products utilize inserts mounted to the handle of the brush, which engage corresponding recesses formed in the brush head. This allows the head to be twisted and held at a selected angular orientation relative to the handle. In order to properly effect this operation, the brush must be constructed so that the head is pressed or squeezed against the handle. In Saxe, this is accomplished through the user of a connecting pin. The formation of pins, inserts and recesses increases the manufacturing cost of this type of rotatable brush. Moreover, the required compression between the brush head and brush handle will eventually weaken the interconnection and cause the device to fail. The brush head may separate entirely from the handle and at a minimum, the brush head is apt to loosen sufficiently such that the brush head can no longer be successfully rotated in a stepped manner and held in place in a selected angular orientation relative to the handle. The recesses and inserts also tend to collect debris, which can jam or otherwise interfere with smooth turning of the brush head.